Weatherford Blue Thumb Volunteer Training
The first day of training will include an introduction to the Blue Thumb program and an overview of various ways you can participate as a Blue Thumb volunteer, with a focus on volunteer education opportunities. You will also get to learn about water quality, watersheds, nonpoint source pollution and other topics through a series of educational activities which you can then use to educate members of your own community. Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) will be included and all participants will receive at WET activity guide at the end of the day. The day will also include a visit to a local creek to discuss the creek’s ecology and biology, including getting into the water and looking for bugs and fish.
The second day of training will cover all of the monthly chemical tests conducted by volunteers at their local creek or stream. We will also discuss the test results, what they mean and what they reveal about water quality and nonpoint source pollution. The day will include visiting a local creek to perform all of the required stream-side testing procedures and then returning to the indoor location to perform the chemical tests volunteers conduct every month. This monitoring training is mandatory before you can begin to monitor your creek.
All volunteers who have been trained in the past but would like a refresher course on their chemical tests are also welcome and encouraged to attend. Please email bluethumb@conservation.ok.gov if you have any questions or would to attend this day’s training.
Contact: Becky Zawalski (becky.zawalski@conservation.ok.gov, 405-761-7401)
Registration is required. The registration fee is $25 until October 8 and then $35 from October 8-October 12, which is when registration ends. If the registrant is an OCC employee or a Conservation District employee, there is a special code to remove the charge and attend for free. If the registrant would only like to attend the first day (and not go through the monitoring training), then there is a special code to remove the charge for the second day. Please email Becky Zawalski (becky.zawalski@conservation.ok.gov) for these Promo Codes. The link to register is: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weatherford-blue-thumb-volunteer-training-tickets-399056056407